Bodhi News & Analysis - India-China-OBOR-Summit | Sri Lanka & India relations | Monsoon 2017 - 16 May

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Learn indepth about (1) India-China-OBOR-Summit, (2) Sri Lanka & India relations, (3) Monsoon 2017. Detailed video analysis included.

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Welcome to Bodhi News for 16 May, 2017 - from Bodhi Booster knowledge portal!

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Topics covered indepth:
1. India - China - OBOR - Summit - why India boldly stayed away, denouncing the whole idea
2. Sri Lanka and India relations - how Modi is reshaping the relations using soft power tools
3. Monsoon 2017 - technical insights and more on Monsoon including El Nino and La Nina

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Highlights | मुख्य समाचार

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Highlights for 15-05-2017

1. World politics – China’s high-profile Belt and Road Conference (One Belt One Road – OBOR) was inaugurated in Beijing on May 14, 2017. The conference is being attended by heads of state of 29 countries besides top officials of world bodies like the UN, the World Bank and the IMF. India has boycotted the conference protesting over the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) traversing through Pak-occupied Kashmir. India has warned other nations of becoming colonial victims of the massive Chinese investments they’d never be able to pay back.
2. World politics – North Korea said that it had successfully conducted test of a newly developed mid-to-long range missile, which is said to be aimed at verifying the capability to carry a large scale heavy nuclear warhead. The ballistic missile fired on Sunday landed in the sea near Russia. The US has said that it was a message to South Korea days after its new president took office pledging to engage North Korea in dialogue. Trump has allowed US to participate in the OBOR summit, trying to perhaps please China to facilitate pressure on North Korea.
3. Indian economy – According to market surveys, various Indian IT companies will cut jobs between 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh every year for the next three years. Indian IT has had a great run in the past 15 years, but continuous failure to adapt to newer technologies and systems (SMAC – Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud) has spelled doom for the positive sentiment. On top of it, a protectionist rich world has tightened visa norms thereby adversely affecting local prospects.
4. Regional politics – The Pakistan government told a judicial board, in what could possibly be its first official admission, that Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafeez Saeed and his team is engaged in spreading terrorism in the name of Jihad. The judicial board was formed to review the detention of Saeed and his four aides under an anti-terror Act. This acceptance is a first, as Pakistan has continuously denied harbouring terrorists. The firing along LAC in Kashmir has intensified lately.
5. Regional politics – Away from the spotlight of the OBOR meet, India is quietly working on creating connectivity grids in its neighbourhood and moving beyond physical connectivity to energy as a tool of connectivity. From Indonesia to Mauritius, India is working on a web of energy relationships that seeks to leverage India's position as a big source of petroleum products, sharing of technology and building inter-dependencies.
6. Defence and military – The defence ministry is looking to create a specialized defence procurement organization (DPO) to streamline mega arms acquisitions and also to leverage them to build a robust defence industrial base (DIB) in the country. This would be the second big defence reform as a strategic imperative for self-reliance after the strategic partnership (SP) policy.
7. Weather and climate – The official weather office said that the southwest monsoon hit the Nicobar Islands and the entire South Andaman Sea three days ahead of time. The southwest monsoon normally reaches the Andaman Sea on May 17. In the next 72 hours, the southwest monsoon will further advance into some areas of southwest and southeast Bay of Bengal. However, it is too early to predict an early onset of monsoon over the Indian subcontinent. Monsoons affect the Indian economy more than any other factor!
8. Infrastructure – India’s longest bridge on Brahmaputra, the Dhola-Sadiya bridge, capable of withstanding the weight of a 60-tonne battle tank, will be opened for public on May 26, when the PM will inaugurate it. The Dhola–Sadiya Bridge spans the Lohit River to connect the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and is 9.15 kilometres in length, and will reduce the travel time between these 2 states by four hours.
9. Education – The National Council of Educational Reaserch and Training (NCERT) will review all its books for the first time after 2007. Council director Hrishikesh Senapaty said that these books were created a decade ago in 2007and needed upgradation. Textbooks were not being revised and NCERT was only reviewing the books in a systematic way.
10. Indian economy – In what could be a second wave of reforms in the Indian banking sector, the finance ministry sees a scope for merger among 3-4 major public sector banks. The government will work on a two-pronged strategy that prefers merger among strong banks and shrinks the capital base and balance-sheet of weak banks. Non-performing banks are being asked to sell assets, close non-profitable branches and shrink their balance sheet, in an attempt to reduce the strain on budgetary resources.
11. Deep Dive : For serious learners, here are additional reading links – (1) All about One Belt One Road of China – here!, (2) Politics and dynamics of the Korean peninsula – here, (3) Indian I.T. sector related – here, Immigrants related problems – here, (4) Terrorism related – here, latest on terrorism – here, (5) Energy and India – here, (6) India’s defence preparedness – here, All about Indian paramilitaries – here, More on defence and military here, (7) Climate change and environment – here, (8) Infrastructure in India – here, (9) Education related issues – here, (10) Indian banking sector and related issues/problems – here and here.
12. Constitution and law – The Supreme Court of India began hearing on six petitions and a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) that challenged the constitutional validity of Muslim practices such as triple talaq, and nikah halala along with the issue of polygamy. The court declared that it would not decide on polygamy and would limit itself to triple talaq and the consequential question of nikah halala.
13. Regional politics – Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully concluded his second official visit to Sri Lanka in two years. He was the chief guest at the International Vesak Day, the biggest Buddhist festival. Modi's Lanka visit came at a time when Lanka has reportedly refused a Chinese request to dock its submarine in Colombo port on May 16.
14. Demonetization – The government added 9.1 million new taxpayers in 2016-17, an 80% increase over the typical yearly rise, highlighting the impact of India’s November demonetization of high-value currencies. This is expected to significantly boost the government’s tax revenue. India had only 55.9 million individual taxpayers at the end of 2015-16.
15. Science and technology – The Income Tax Department has launched an e-facility to link Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN), a mandatory procedure for filing I-T returns now. The department’s e-filing website has created the link on its homepage. The link requires the PAN, the Aadhaar number and the "exact name as given in the Aadhaar card".
16. Healthcare and medicine – The World Health Organization (WHO) has vowed for maximum transparency on the pricing of medicines in order to increase access to life-saving drugs. Drugmakers are under growing fire as a wave of new treatments for serious conditions like cancer and hepatitis C come to market at very high prices, putting them out of reach of many patients and national health services.
17. Energy – The focused reforms unleashed by the Narendra Modi government in the last three years have halved the rate at which power prices rose every year, and improved India's position in the global 'ease of getting electricity' ranking. During the last two years, India moved up to the 26th spot in global electricity accessibility ranking, moving up from 99th in 2014 aided largely by the Modi government's rural electrification programme in the last three years since it came to power.
18. Demonetization – Even after six months since demonetization, there are still some questions that remain unanswered. (1) How much old currency was returned to the system in the form of deposits or exchange?, (2) How much black money was uncovered due to the note-ban exercise?, (3) What is the amount of counterfeit notes that came into the government's possession?, (4) What is the status of remonetisation of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore old notes that were made invalid during demonetisation?, (5) How did the RBI weigh the pros and cons of the note-ban move despite obvious disruptions to economic activity?, and (6) How prepared was RBI for the following digital-money push by government post note-ban? The RBI is yet to provide answers to these questions.
19. Environment and ecology – High-level officials from the world’s eight Arctic nations are meeting in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after United States President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development. Among those attending the meeting of the Arctic Council are US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
20. World economy – China’s state-controlled press published an article saying Beijing can't afford to get too complacent, especially if India copies China, because the South Asian nation will then gain the attention of world capital. It further said that India is succeeding in attracting more and more investment. Another factor in India’s favour is its demographic. As China’s demographic dividend diminishes, India, with half of its population below the age of 25, is poised to take advantage.
21. World politics – A day after it acted on an Indian petition and asked Pakistan to put on hold the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague announced it will hold public hearings on May 15 in the case of the retired Indian Navy officer who was convicted of espionage charges by a Pakistani military court. For Running Updates on Important Themes, go here

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